The digital world has provided B2B companies with new ways of engaging customers, but have they forgotten about tried and tested techniques?

Video increasingly important for B2B marketers

Recent research from LinkedIn found that nearly three quarters of B2B marketers view video as one of the most important content formats, Marketing Interactive reported. This was followed by social media creative (60%) and email (46%).

When asked what areas B2B video helps, 83% cited driving lead volume and 86% think it produces high quality leads.

Video also provides B2B brands with the opportunity to be more creative with their storytelling, enabling them to produce video that is energetic (17%), inspiring (13%), informative (13%), and humorous (12%).

Email marketing is known to produce an incredibly high return on investment, however, a new study from SuperOffice has found that an astonishing 59% of B2B companies are not sending email marketing campaigns to their subscribers.

What’s more, many of those who do incorporate an email marketing strategy do not follow best practices.

Discussing the research, Benzinga noted that the overwhelming majority (87%) of B2B marketers use email marketing to generate new leads and almost a third (31%) believe the channel has the biggest impact on revenue.

To reap the full rewards of email, B2B marketers should implement an email marketing campaign to retain and engage existing customers and ensure emails are optimised for mobile devices.

Buyers are used to purchasing online in the B2C world, and now they want the same opportunities with their B2B buys, with 83% indicating they would like to make more purchases through B2B sellers offering robust ecommerce solutions, Biz Report revealed.

Digital commerce solutions provider Avionos found that 89% are making more B2B purchases online now compared to a year ago. Self-serve options were seen as the most important, highlighting the urgency for B2B websites to implement personalisation.

A Dun & Bradstreet survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting, found that the overwhelming majority (82%) of respondents are still experiencing difficulties in managing data across the business, and 80% found it a challenge to handle the volume of data.

While B2B Marketing noted that the use of data and analytics to deliver relevant content and target was a top priority, a lack of a consistent data structure was hindering campaign scalability.

More than half (53%) of respondents have committed to drive success in using data, through sourcing higher quality data and developing insight systems.

Dun & Bradstreet’s general manager of sales and marketing, Derek Slayton, commented: “B2B customers are looking to have more consumer-like experiences and take more control of their buying process.

“To meet those demands, sales and marketing organisations must ensure they engage consistently with informed, relevant content that guides buyers where, when, and how they want it. Accessing, analysing, and activating data across their efforts is the key to delivering a seamless customer experience that drives growth.”

Marketing automation might not be the newest word on the block but Forrester’s first Marketing Automation Technology Forecast predicts investment in these tools will see significant growth over the next few years, increasing from $11.4bn last year to $25.1bn by 2023.

Speaking to MarTech Today, report co-author, Jennifer Adams, noted: “B2B marketers are still in the early innings of adopting marketing automation technology tools and this trend will continue to drive growth over the next five years.”

That's all for this week, have a great weekend and enjoy the Royal Wedding & FA Cup final.

The Kingpin team.

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To meet those demands, sales and marketing organisations must ensure they engage consistently with informed, relevant content that guides buyers where, when, and how they want it. Accessing, analysing, and activating data across their efforts is the key to delivering a seamless customer experience that drives growth.